And – as shown below – we probably knew about the coming Pearl Harbor attack, but let it happen to justify America’s entry into World War II.

The White House apparently had – a year before Pearl Harbor – launched an 8-point plan to provoke Japan into war against the U.S. (including, for example, an oil embargo). The rationale for this provocation is that the U.S. wanted to aid its allies in fighting the Nazis and other axis powers, and decided that an attack by Japan would be the most advantageous justification for the U.S. to enter WWII.

Moreover, Honolulu newspapers warned of a possible attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor:

Indeed, as the following must-watch BBC documentary – with interviews with many of the main players, including military officers and code-breakers – shows, the American and British knew of the Japanese plan to attack Pearl Harbor — down to the exact date of the attack — and allowed it to happen to justify America’s entry into World War II:

And see this short essay by a highly-praised historian summarizing some of the key points. (The historian, Robert B. Stinnett, a World War II veteran, actually agreed with this strategy for getting America into the war, and so does not have any axe to grind).

Active Interference with Military’s Ability to Defend

It has also recently been discovered that the FDR administration took numerous affirmative steps to ensure that the Japanese attack would be successful. These steps included taking extraordinary measures to hide information from the commanders in Hawaii about the location of Japanese war ships (information of which they would normally be informed), denying their requests to allow them to scout for Japanese ships, and other actions to blind the commanders in Hawaii so that the attacks would succeed. See, for example, this book (page 186).

Scapegoating and Labels of “Conspiracy Theory”

The commanders in Hawaii, General Short and Admiral Kimmel, were scapegoated as being the cause for the “surprise” attack on Pearl Harbor (they were recently cleared by Congress).

And, according to a statement made to me privately by a leading Pearl Harbor scholar, the government repeatedly denied foreknowledge and labeled anyone who discussed the military’s prior knowledge of the attacks as a nutty conspiracy theorist.

Yea at this point what else can you do. Unless someone can figure out a way for a mass awakening (I haven't) to the Oligarchs who run the world, all we can do is sit and watch. A bad day of fishing is better than a good day of doing anything else. Espcially if it's worrying about stuff you have no control over.

7. Question motives. Twist or amplify any fact which could so taken to imply that the opponent operates out of a hidden personal agenda or other bias. This avoids discussing issues and forces the accuser on the defensive.

8. Invoke authority. Claim for yourself or associate yourself with authority and present your argument with enough “jargon” and “minutiae” to illustrate you are “one who knows”, and simply say it isn’t so without discussing issues or demonstrating concretely why or citing sources.

What people knew and when they knew it has always been a great cause of concern regarding Pearl Harbor. Sixty years on, what GW puts forth as absolute fact, has been propagated by a great many others also.

I suspect, as do many others, that there was prior knowledge of an attack. I do not however, understand how GW puts forth with such certainty that this was a coverup and a conspiracy staring at the highest levels.

Careful now, George. If you maintain that declaring an oil embargo is a "provocation" for war, then wouldn't that mean that if any middle eastern nations decided to embargo their oil, any of their customers could consider that as a justification for war?

Remember that at the time Japan was conducting an illegal occupation of Korea and China. The US had a perfect right and, in my opinion, a moral obligation not to support those activities by selling oil to Japan. And at that time, Japan was also considering opening a front against the USSR. In late 1941, the German army was within sight of Moscow. If Japan had attacked Russia then, it might well have collapsed. Such an attack would have made extremely good sense and the only reason Japan didn't do that was because they were short of oil due to the US embargo.

George doesn't five a shit about the genocide of millions of Chinese nor does he care about the Korean "comfort women". Maybe he can elucidate on how the Japanese used a false flag to goad us into an oil embargo. Whenever, I see George wack job raps it just reminds me of some of huffington post dreck.

Hawaii was not even a State of the USA in 1941, and many contend that it was illegally annexed as a US territory in 1898. So how was Pearl Harbor an an attack on America in the first place? In reality it was an attack on the outpost of an aggressive, offensive(as opposed to a defensive force) US blue water Navy.

Most folks have heard that Hawaii is a state, one of the United States of America. Most people, including those who live in Hawaii, accept that statement as a fact.

But the reality is that in a world in which nations are as bound by the rule of laws as are the citizens of nations (if not more so), the truth is quite different!

The truth is that each and every step along Hawaii's path from sovereign and independent nation, to annexed territory, to state, was done in violation of laws and treaties then in effect, without regard to the wishes of the Hawaiian people. Many people, including President Grover Cleveland, opposed the annexation of Hawaii.

But in the end, simple greed and military interest overrode any concerns or moral right and legality. Hawaii's legitimate government was toppled using threat of American military force. Hawaii was stolen from her people for the benefit of wealthy American plantation owners and military interests, and the justifications for the crime were invented after-the-fact.

Hawaii's government was overthrown on Jan. 17, 1893, by a relatively small group of men, most of them American by birth or heritage, who seized control of the Islands with the backing of American troops sent ashore from a warship in Honolulu Harbor. To this "superior force of the United States of America," Queen Lili`uokalani yielded her throne, under protest, in order to avoid bloodshed, trusting that the United States government would right the wrong that had been done to her and the Hawaiian people.

Who were this group of American men and why did they overthrow the government? Sugar!

Spot on George. Ditto for the recent article on America dropping the bomb on Japan. No bullshit links either (thinking of the one where a "study" claimed 14,000 infants died in the U.S. in the three months after and because of Fukushima -- steer clear of those kinds of absurdities and you're credible.)

The tell was that they placed all the older ships in port while dispersing the carriers and more modern ships. And killed all those dumb hayseed sailors whom the Navy didn't want around but then glorified with propanganda for ever after--that's the military way, right there.

It's been done over and over again by the US and other nations. The false-flag or what is now referred to as the "____ Pearl Harbor" is a common theme throughout history. Next up will be an "Internet Pearl Harbor" so they can crack down on sites like ZH where we come to discuss these matters in a public forum. "Remember the Maine!" LOL.

"They" don't need to crack down on ZH "discussions." Plenty of brokedick panty wastes already here, jumping at the chance to post some idiotic sophistry at the top of the page without even reading the article first. Ikea Boyz need their daily affirmation/green arrows.

American banks funded the Nazis. Major American industrialists funded the Red Army and built their war machines, along with funding the Nazis as well.

The goal was always to drive the world to war for profit and the concentration of power. The problem is Europe would have moved to stability with a German victory and threatened America's dominance in the future. Hitler and Stalin had almost nothing on the American national socialists moving things behind the scenes. Much of what caused the war was a disagreement over who should have control of the global political system.

The war was almost ended many times from 38 to 45. Each time something kept it going so the wartime profit engine would keep running. Had the Battle of Britain gone the other way, the Germans would have made short work of the Russians before the winter. Had Hitler not been too stupid to force the absolute destruction of Stalingrad, his generals would have taken Moscow easily.With the red army out of the picture the American and British force would have never been able to make much of a stand.

The German generals probably would have overthrown Hitler after a German victory and installed a different government. Perhaps they would have even agreed to let the UK stay independent of the greater European empire. The goal was always a unified Europe under a German banner. Wow, not much has changed.

Patton could have ended the war within weeks had he not been ordered to retreat and allow the Germans to consolidate their forces. Too much was riding on the war machine back home to let the war end too early. In fact in a pre-Keynesian wet dream, the industrialists and bankers knew the absolute destruction of Europe would require spending on a scale never seen before to put the continent back together. America would profit immensely.

Millions of people died and a continent ended up divided for 50 years, causing mass hardship for millions more. Now the world is being put back right where it was before WWII and the Keynesians and Socialists are once again clamoring for war to jumpstart the global economic engine, and once again concentrate power into even fewer hands.

Patton was an outspoken liability that wanted to push the Red horde back to the Russian border but that would have meant missing out on 50 years of a Cold War and would have cost the Rothschilds and the MIComplex trillions of dollars in profits. war is a racket and one that pays quite well.

My Great-Uncle was the Captain of an Ammunition ship in the 40's and has told the family for decades how he received the unusual orders (the night before the attack) to delay his arrival to Pearl Harbor by several hours. He was convinced that the 'higher ups' were well aware of the impending attack as his ship was not the only one that was fortuitously asea at the time of the attack.